Worship in the City

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Linda Bonney Olin

Faith Songs for People Where They Are

Shepherds and lambs … lakes and rivers … bountiful harvests of golden wheat … crowded sidewalks and grungy alleys—Wait a minute! When was the last time you sang about those in church?

Probably never. Yet city pavements, not rural pastures, are the everyday surroundings of millions of Christians.

Rev. Dr. Nancy E. Hardy, a retired minister and a city resident herself, saw that the urban viewpoint was severely underrepresented in existing hymnals. Supported by the 2013 McGeachy Senior Scholarship, Nancy launched a quest to fill that void. She wrote prayers and selected songs whose themes and imagery resonate with city dwellers.

The resulting book, Worship in the City: Prayers and Songs for Urban Settings, was just released by United Church Publishing House. Although this hymnal was published for the United Church of Canada, urban congregations of any denomination will find it a rich resource for public and private worship.

You can check out the paperback edition at United Church Resource Distribution or the ebook edition at Amazon and other online retailers.

A Faith Songs Milestone

I’m celebrating Worship in the City for a personal reason, too. It’s the first appearance of my work in a church hymnal. What an exciting milestone! One more evidence that the Lord keeps his promises.

New hymnals aren’t produced every five minutes like novels, anthologies, or magazines, so opportunities to submit new hymn texts for publication in a hymnal are few and far between. When Nancy Hardy’s project was mentioned last year in The Verse (the newsletter of the Hymn Society in the United States & Canada), submitting a text for her consideration went right onto my to-do list.

Unfortunately, not one of the dozens of hymn texts I’d already written featured an urban theme. I challenged myself to create one. Although I’m a country gal, my visits to metropolitan areas from Houston to Boston, including Toronto, Philly, and of course the Big Apple, furnished memories to work from. “Jesus Walks on City Streets” became a four-verse meditation on living as a member of the community of faith in a city environment. Louis J. Herold’s tune MESSIAH (familiar as the tune of “Take My Life, and Let It Be”) provided the musical setting, with a few timing tweaks to make my lyrics more singable. To my delight, “Jesus Walks on City Streets” was placed in the Hope and Healing section of Worship in the City.

I love being inspired to write a new hymn to meet a particular need. Can you suggest a hymn or faith song that begs to be written? Please share your ideas in a comment below. Or just stop and say hi. I love that too!

~ Linda

After the Cross: James the Brother of Jesus

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Linda Bonney Olin

James “the Lord’s brother” was missing from the scene of the cross while Jesus suffered and died. Wouldn’t you expect such a close family member to be there, supporting Jesus and Mary in those desperate hours? But then, this particular James had been absent from Jesus’ ministry all along.

In my musical dramatic comedy “James the Brother of Jesus, Transformed,” James appears on a fictional (obviously!) Christian television show to share his personal story of faith in Jesus Christ. But he’s barely settled into a chair on stage when his identity as the brother of Jesus throws the other two guests into a rambunctious argument. Was Mary a virgin all her life? In that case, one guest insists, James must be Joseph’s son from a previous marriage, or a cousin of Jesus, or even a random believer. Or are James and the other brothers and sisters mentioned in the Bible literally Jesus’ younger siblings born of Mary and Joseph, as the other guest argues?

No matter where you stand on this real-life controversy, you can appreciate the obstacles a “brother” of Jesus would have experienced on the road to faith.

JAMES: I had no part in Jesus’ ministry at all, for the simple reason that I didn’t believe he was the Messiah, or the Son of God, or a prophet, or any of that. None of his brothers believed in him.

INTERVIEWER: I don’t understand. You said you and Jesus were very close.

JAMES: That was the problem. I knew who Jesus was and where he came from, and it wasn’t heaven. He was a regular kid like the rest of us.

GUEST #1: Come on! How “regular” could the Son of God be? Continue reading →

After the Cross: Mary Magdalene

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Linda Bonney Olin

The other Mary at the cross

Crucifixion tableaux commonly picture Jesus’ beloved disciple, John, and his mother, Mary, consoling each other at the foot of the cross. But the Bible tells us that another Mary endured the anguish of watching Jesus die. Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ devoted disciple, followed him all the way to Calvary too.

Mark 16:9 calls her a woman from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons. Who else—what else—was Mary Magdalene? A saint? A sinner? A sort of Galilean Yoko Ono, whose influence over Jesus aroused jealous resentment among the other disciples? Jesus’ love match? Wife? Mother of his children? The embodiment of the “sacred feminine,” as suggested in modern speculative fiction?

I don’t know how much truth each of those depictions contains. But one thing seems certain: Mary Magdalene loved Jesus deeply. She loved him as the healer of her body and the savior of her soul. He didn’t merely cast out the seven demons who had subjected her to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual abuse, though that would have been enough. He made her whole again with his encompassing, unconditional, personal love.

How profoundly, then, she must have suffered along with Jesus at the cross! How devastating her loss, when he was snatched away by death!

When John led Mary the mother of Jesus away from the scene, did Mary Magdalene follow the body of Jesus to the newly hewn tomb and watch with a tight heart as it was quickly wrapped in linen and laid to rest? Did she hurry back into the city to buy burial spices before the vendor closed shop at sundown for the Sabbath?

Ah, that Sabbath day!

By the following morning, the protective numbness had surely worn off. Jewish law prohibited most activity on Saturday, so there was little to distract the grieving woman from the ragged pain of once more being … incomplete.

Excerpt from the dramatic monologue Mary Magdalene, Transformed

(MAGDALENE echoes Jesus in an anguished voice.)
My Lord, my Lord, why have you forsaken me?
(MAGDALENE covers her face with her hands and stands with her head bent down for several moments. She uncovers her face and raises her head before continuing.)
The next day was the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest. (bitterly) I found no rest in it. Questions invaded my mind, like demons rushing to take possession.
(MAGDALENE speaks forlornly.)
Where does this leave me?
Why did he leave me?
Who is Mary Magdalene now?
What am I, without Jesus?
Is everything (a beat) finished?

(MAGDALENE mournfully sings O Lord, Whose Touch Once Made Me Whole. Click the title to listen to vocalist Theresa Olin.)

1. O Lord, whose touch once made me whole, whose love restored my very soul, how can it be that you are gone? Without you, how can I be strong enough to carry on?

2. O Lord, why did you have to leave? Should I be angry? Should I grieve? I was so sure we’d never part. But death has taken you and left me with a hollow heart.

3. O Lord, will I see you again? Does “It is finished” mean the end of everything I thought I knew? Of everything we all believed that you would someday do?

Lost love? Eternal love!

Have you ever experienced the raw pain of abandonment when a person you loved so profoundly—one who completed you—walked out the door, never to return? Perhaps the departure was a deliberate breakup. Perhaps, like Mary Magdalene, you lost your loved one to death, without a chance to brace yourself against the blow. Either way, you might have felt as forsaken as Mary did. And asked the same desperate questions.

But we know something Mary didn’t know on that terrible Saturday. Jesus had not abandoned her. He continued to love her with an all-encompassing, unconditional love. In fact, their love was transformed into an eternal bond!

Be encouraged by the knowledge that the living Christ loves you—yes, you!—with that same eternal, forgiving, redeeming, all-encompassing, personal love. Others may forsake you. He will not!

Learn more of Mary Magdalene’s story in Transformed: 5 Resurrection Dramas, a collection of one-act plays. Mary Magdalene, Transformed is a dramatic monologue portraying Mary as a visiting speaker/singer who relates her history with Jesus to a not entirely sympathetic audience. Three solo songs provide an optional musical element.

Find more information about the music in Mary Magdalene, Transformed, and listen to my diva daughter’s informal vocal recordings on the Audio page here at Faith Songs.

Edit 3/26/2016: Mary Magdalene, Transformed is now available as a single-script ebook, too.

Edit 2/5/2017: O Lord, Whose Touch Once Made Me Whole (Theresa Olin, a cappella) on YouTube

Edit: An additional resource for Mary Magdalene’s story at the cross:
Were You There When They Crucified Our Lord? Meditations on Calvary
Chapter 3: The Women

Blessings,
Linda

P.S. Please leave a comment below. Your two cents is worth a good buck and a half to me! ♥

Split-ting Words Without Getting a Split-ting Headache

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Linda Bonney Olin

Sheet music Ever notice all the hyphens in your hymnal? I pity the guy who had the job of putting them there!

When song lyrics contain words of more than one syllable, the divisions between syllables are marked with hyphens in the score. This allows each syllable to be individually aligned with its musical note.

Some syllables are sung across a series of notes. The score will generally use a curved line called a slur to mark the range of notes assigned to a particular syllable. It may display multiple hyphens for an extended syllable.

The clip of sheet music pictured above shows the hyphenated syllables Glo-ri-a, ex-cel-sis, and De-o in the classic Christmas carol “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Look at all the hyphens following Glo! That single three-letter syllable is spread over sixteen separate notes. Keep an oxygen tank handy when the congregation belts that one out!

Where Do the Hyphens Go?

But Gloria-induced hyperventilation is not the source of the headache I mentioned in my post title. My split-ting headache comes from trying to figure out exactly where to divide words when I type lyrics into a music notation program.

I vaguely remember a few of Sister Mary Adele’s rules from fifth grade grammar:

End a long-vowel syllable with the vowel.
End a short-vowel syllable with a consonant.
Split words between two consecutive consonants, unless they form a diphthong. (Wait a minute, diphthongs combine vowels. What do you call a consonant combination? A gerund? No … I’m getting too old to keep that stuff straight.)

But Sister Mary Adele’s rules don’t always give the right answer. Even words I thought were obvious turned out to be split differently in my hymnal. Where would you place the hyphens in the common word everyone, for example? I didn’t even guess the number of syllables correctly.

What’s a lyricist to do? Use only words of one syllable? Not likely. Insert hyphens wherever they look right to me, and hope no one else knows better? Tempting, but not the most quality-conscious approach.

How to Divide and Conquer Multi-Syllable Words

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary is my hard-copy reference for word spelling, definition, and syllabication. A quicker solution: I keep a browser window open to Dictionary.com while I work on lyrics. When I need to check a word, I type or copy/paste it into the search box and hit Enter. Voila! Dictionary.com displays the word and its derivative forms in hyphenated syllables.

Even if you don’t write music, knowing where to find a word’s correct syllabication might come in handy someday. If you lay out the interior pages of a print-on-demand book in Microsoft Word, for example, you might want to override Word’s hyphenation to tweak a line here or there. Splitting a long word differently (Con-gregation instead of Congre-gation, for example) can improve the appearance of a printed page or break a line of dialogue at a more reader-friendly place in a script.

Edited September 23, 2021: By the way, give yourself a pat on the back if you split everyone into three syllables. But some sources split it like this: eve-ry-one, while others split it like this: ev-ery-one.

Edit January 10, 2016:
Entering hymn lyrics into a digital score by copying and pasting from Microsoft Word is a lot quicker than typing the words directly into the score. To do that, I first have to separate the syllables with a space or a hyphen (depending on the music notation program). Inserting all those spaces/hyphens individually gets pretty time-consuming.

But I recently was tipped off to Lyric Hyphenator, a free online utility from Juicio Brennan. Just paste your text into the on-screen box and click a button to have it hyphenated automatically. If your notation program uses spaces instead of hyphens to separate syllables, you can then use Word’s Find/Replace All function to replace all the hyphens with spaces.

Caveats: Lyric Hyphenator works with standard English words only. You should eyeball the results for accuracy; as always, use a dictionary to check the syllabication of any questionable words or proper names. (Lyric Hyphenator says eve-ry-one; Merriam-Webster says ev-ery-one.)

10 Tips Put Poems to Music

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Linda Bonney Olin

Ever had the desire to write hymn texts or put your poems to music? Think it’s impossible because you have little or no music training?

Check out my 10 tips for putting poetry to existing music, on my guest blog post at Random Writing Rants, which is a terrific source of information, advice, and encouragement for adult and teen writers.

EDIT June 11, 2021: Random Writing Rants is no longer active, so I’m copying my ten tips for you here:

From Random Writing Rants

To get you rolling, here are ten tips for putting new words to old music. These are geared to hymns and faith songs, but the same principles apply to other poem themes.

Listen for the Holy Spirit ( or whatever muse inspires you) popping little rhyming phrases and themes into your head. As you read your Bible or listen to a sermon, imagery may jump out at you. Grab those ideas and see how they might be developed into verses. Themes and images that divide themselves into three, four, or even five parallel aspects lend themselves nicely to song stanzas. For example, my hymn text “Seasons of Life” has four stanzas, each one corresponding to (you guessed it!) one of the seasons. A refrain can serve to summarize, bridge, or unify the stanzas.
Choose a tune that suits the general attitude of your text and the musical style you’re going for. A soulful solo? Hand-clapping bluegrass gospel? Lyrical waltz?
Refresh your familiarity with public domain tunes, to help your brain suggest a good choice for a given text. I use recordings on Andrew Remillard’s YouTube channel or hymnary.org to hear the tunes. There are other helpful sites too.
If your poetry tends toward esoteric imagery, multi-layered metaphors, and literary tours-de-force, I suggest you bring it back down to earth when you write hymns. Hymn lyrics have to be easily understood to be absorbed while being sung. You know what I mean. How often do you sing a whole congregational hymn and when it’s done, you have no idea what the words said? Don’t let that happen to singers of YOUR songs! Be original, but not incomprehensible. Choose one simple image and build on it.
Songs are meant to be sung, right? So give singers a break, with easy-to-pronounce transitions between words. Don’t shove a mouthful of consonants into a speedy succession of eighth notes or tongue-twisting combinations in adjacent syllables. Beware of embarrassing words created from run-together sounds. Hearing “snot” in “It’s not” is a classic example. Sing it out loud and adjust as necessary.
Carefully match your words to the notes, using the right number of syllables. A printout of the tune’s sheet music, which often can be downloaded as a PDF file, can be a useful tool to help you match syllable for syllable. It’s okay to split a syllable across multiple notes or split a single note into its equivalent of shorter notes to spread it across multiple syllables. However, when you write new words to a familiar song, try to keep the same pattern of split notes and/or syllables that was in the original song, to help singers make the switch comfortably.
Match accented (stressed/emphasized) syllables to stressed notes. For example, sing “Jingle bells! Jingle bells” out loud to hear the primary accent on the “Jing” notes. It would sound weird to replace those words with “The Lord reigns! The Lord reigns!” even though the number of syllables is the same, because accenting “The” instead of “Lord” sounds weird. A better choice is “Jesus reigns! Jesus reigns!” because “Je” correctly matches the stress on “Jing.”
Caution: Please don’t jumble the normal order of words in a phrase or sentence to make accents fit. That always sounds awkward or confuses the meaning of the sentence. Remember, your message (which actually is God’s message) is top priority in a faith song.
Don’t shortchange the message by forcing words into stilted rhymes, either. Look for original rhymes using words that contribute to the whole, not just throwaway phrases tacked on to complete a rhyme.
Look for opportunities to musically convey the emotion of verbal phrases. For example, the phrase “Praise the Lord” fits a rising sequence of notes, with the highest note gloriously emphasizing “Lord.” (The refrain of the old hymn “To God Be the Glory” does exactly that.) On the other hand, “Satan is dragging me down” calls for a downward sequence or an ominous minorish-sounding musical phrase. Passages that speed up or notes that are held out convey different dramatic effects too.
Last but not least: Get permission to use copyrighted music, or else stick to public domain tunes (which aren’t copyrighted). Give credit where credit is due: When you publish or perform your new masterpiece, cite the name of the tune’s composer.

Now, do you hear music bubbling up from your memory? It wants someone to give it new words! Why not you?

Back to my Faith Songs post…

If you haven’t already read my posts here on Faith Songs about my adventures in writing original music, take a look at them, too:
Writing Songs for the Lord
To the Ends of the Earth

By way of an update, I’m happy to say that, thanks to my musically inclined collaborator, Phyllis Neff Lake, the project of adding piano accompaniments to the hymns and faith songs in Songs for the Lord is well underway. Yay, Phyllis! Yay, God!

Meanwhile, I’m adding material slowly but surely to a second songbook. This one will feature original hymn texts set to some of my favorite classic hymn tunes. Just this morning, the Holy Spirit showed up with a new hymn idea in the wee hours. I grabbed a newspaper lying next to my bed and scribbled a draft of the verses before they floated out of my memory. 🙂

Let me know if you’re inspired to give it a try!

Blessings,
Linda

P.S. 9/28/2013

I just added new links to my Resources page that will interest poets who want to write new words to set to old hymns. Hymnary.org offers XML and midi files of public domain hymns. MuseScore, a free music notation program, opens those files and lets you edit them. Replacing the old lyrics with your own words is easy! You can modify the notes, too. Then you can save and print professional-looking sheet music. Have fun!

A New Twist of Fate ~ and Faith

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Linda Bonney Olin

Photo of Twist of Fate book featuring poem The Wind and The Spirit by Linda Bonney Olin

Today’s mail brought my paperback copies of Twist of Fate, a charity anthology produced by Indies in Action. If you have sharp eyes, you can sneak a peek at “The Wind and The Spirit” in the photo. I wrote this faith poem specifically for Twist of Fate, which was edited by Stephen L. Wilson and published by Navigator Books. All contributions were donated by the participants, and all proceeds will benefit the May Tornadoes Relief Fund, managed by the United Way. (Yes, that’s why I used tornado imagery in the theme and visual layout of “The Wind and The Spirit.”)

Indies in Action is a group of independent writers and artists who banded together to tangibly express our compassion for victims of tragedies. Our first anthology project, Angels Cried, benefits the survivors of the Sandy Hook tragedy.

Twist of Fate was released early in July, and quickly shot to the Number One spot on Amazon’s Hot New Releases list. Its success is well deserved. The Indies aren’t just caring people, they’re also good writers! I particularly liked W. F. Lantry’s poem “Storm,” Dave Fessenden’s poem “Holy Vine,” and Lori Dillon’s short story “Ruby Slippers.”

Even though Connecticut and Oklahoma are American locales, Indies from around the world pitched in on both anthologies. Dr. Kiriti Sengupta of India, for example, not only donated two pieces of writing to Twist of Fate but also delved further with interviews of several contributors. Check out his interview “Linda Bonney Olin, a God-Centered Writer from the U.S.” and jump from there to other fascinating entries on Kiriti’s blog.

Of course, Indies in Action can’t succeed in our charitable quest without folks who contribute by purchasing copies of the anthologies! To get in on that action, click on the links below. Don’t forget to leave a comment here and a review on Amazon. Thanks!

~ Linda

Twist of Fate paperback
Twist of Fate ebook
Angels Cried paperback
Angels Cried ebook

The Uphill Road ~ Faith Song for Holy Week

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Linda Bonney Olin

For your Holy Week devotions, today I share The Uphill Road, one of the twenty-four hymns and faith songs in my Songs for the Lord collection. The Uphill Road is a solemn hymn about the challenge and ultimate victory of carrying the cross. The first five verses focus on Jesus Christ’s walk to Calvary, the last five on our human experience. If ten verses seem long and arduous, well, that’s the whole idea. A melody will ease the journey, though. Click the title here to listen while you read (or sing!) the lyrics: The Uphill Road

(The chords make this file too large to repeat the verses. If you’d like to hear the melody repeated ten times without interruption, you can play the no-chord file on my Audio page.)

The Uphill Road

1. Lord, you took upon your back the heavy cross of Calvary,
fully understanding where that rugged path was going to lead,
and in meek submission to your holy Father’s sovereign will,
resolutely dragged your cross along the road that wound uphill.

2. Roughly jostled by a mob who pelted stones and loudly jeered,
stumbling over ruts and rocks that at every turn appeared,
underneath the shifting weight of the unwieldy load you held,
Lord, you fixed your eyes upon the final goal that lay ahead.

3. Weakened by the painful trials that had brought you to the cross,
you were worn out from the strain and fainting from the blood you’d lost.
In a fragile human body you had come to earth to dwell,
but that body’s finite store of strength ran out, and down you fell.

4. Hands of pity touched your face to wipe the blood and sweat away.
Other hands reached out to haul you up and shove you on your way.
Minutes must have crawled like hours as you tried to keep the pace
to the spot they called Golgotha, to your execution place.

5. At the summit, you were nailed upon a cross of seeming shame,
but surrendering to death, you glorified your Father’s name.
By your suffering and dying, scripture’s promise was fulfilled.
Now you beckon me to walk that rugged road that winds uphill.

6. Lord, I took upon my back a heavy cross to follow you,
little understanding what that rugged path would lead me to.
In reluctant resignation to our holy Father’s will,
now I slowly drag my cross along the road that winds uphill.

7. I’m discouraged by the jeers of those I thought to be my friends,
and I stumble on desire to follow selfish, worldly ends.
It’s so hard to keep my balance underneath this weighty load.
I must fix my wandering eyes upon the One who chose this road.

8. Weakened by the painful trials that had brought me to the cross,
I am worn out from the strain and trying not to count the cost.
Lord, you know I’m only human, so it’s no surprise at all
when my burden proves too much for my own strength, and down I fall.

9. Hands of pity touch my face to wipe my weary tears away.
Other hands reach out to lift me up and help me on my way.
Still, the minutes crawl like hours, but I can’t speed up my pace,
just one foot before the other, toward some God-appointed place.

10. Lord, the path you’ve mapped for me may lead to loneliness and shame,
but if carrying this cross will serve to glorify your name,
I will bear it, in your footsteps, till your promise is fulfilled
of salvation at the summit of the road that winds uphill.

~ Linda Bonney Olin

For the account of Jesus Christ’s road to crucifixion, read John 19:1–30. (Read it on BibleGateway.com)

I’m in an Internet-challenged part of the world these days, so I may be slow to approve and reply to comments, but I’ll be able to read them on my email. Please leave your thoughts about this song if you enjoyed it. That will help me along my journey, which is a bit rocky at the moment.

Easter blessings to all,
Linda

Linda

Footprints on Our Lives

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Linda Bonney Olin

Photo of a red rose Yesterday family and friends celebrated the life of Clara Euker, who went home to the Lord at age 95. Naturally, this woman who walked the earth for nearly a century left many wonderful memories.

I knew Clara primarily from church. She laughed along with my son and his puppet pal, raved about my daughter’s singing (Clara loved music!), and patted me on the back when I conducted a worship service. Praise and encouragement for an effort made—even if not a hundred percent successful—flowed from her freely.

But I consider Clara a kindred spirit because of a rather different quality. She knew what to take seriously and what not to. Her faith in the Lord was strong but not blind. She examined everything with intelligent, critical eyes and challenged whatever didn’t sit just right. The pastor, the church administrative board, even the Lord God himself did not escape her questioning. I wouldn’t be surprised to find her grilling one of the scripture writers at this very moment!

All who knew Clara Euker bear the imprint of her loving heart, truth-seeking mind, and heaven-bound soul. Looking around at the loved ones gathered for her memorial service, I could imagine her farewell words sounding much like this …

May my footprints on your heart be deep and lasting

and remembrance of my presence never fade.

May your heart be ever warmed

by the bond of love we formed

and comforted by memories we’ve made.

I’ve left my footprints on your life.

They remain, though I must go.

Look inside yourself and know,

I’ve left my footprints on your life.

May my footprints on your mind always inspire

you to search for what is right and what is true.

As you meet life’s twists and turns,

may the echo of my words

encourage you and guide you safely through.

I’ve left my footprints on your life.

They remain, though I must go.

Look inside yourself and know,

I’ve left my footprints on your life.

May my footprints on your soul lead you to heaven,

like a treasure map that I have left behind

in the hope one day you’ll be

with our Father God and me,

together once again and for all time.

I’ve left my footprints on your life.

They remain, though I must go.

Look inside yourself and know,

I’ve left my footprints on your life.

My Footprints on Your Life — Linda Bonney Olin

If you love music as much as Clara did, you might enjoy listening to the melody as you read the words. Click here.

This song is one of twenty-four in my Songs for the Lord collection. The Kindle version (which can be read on computers and other devices, not just Kindles) can be downloaded on Amazon. And it’s FREE through February 6, 2013. Clara would like that!

Angels Cried: A Sandy Hook Tribute

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Linda Bonney Olin

Cover of Angels Cried anthology by Indies in Action Today’s mail brought my paperback copy of Angels Cried, a new anthology dedicated to the memory of those lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012, and to their survivors. Proceeds are going to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund, which is managed by the United Way.

The book is a collaborative effort of Indies in Action, a Facebook group of writers and artists, thirty-nine of whom donated work to the project. Poems, short stories, bits of memoir, and drawings fill over 150 pages. Some pieces reflect directly on the Sandy Hook tragedy. Others, like my poem “Through Two Unblackened Eyes,” express the awfulness of violence and fear intruding where security should be a given. Still others are sweet homages to childhood.

Stephen L. Wilson masterminded the book’s production, completing the ebook version within two weeks of the tragedy. The paperback version quickly followed. It is available through several outlets, but it’s my understanding that purchases made directly from CreateSpace yield the best percentage of the purchase price to the charity fund.

Now, I won’t add to the hoo-hah about gun control or funding for mental health treatment. I won’t sermonize about God calling the little ones home.

I just want to express how very, very sad I am for all those whose loved ones were wrenched away.

When my mother lost her favorite sister, she was distraught because she no longer had her dearest friend to talk to. I tried to console Ma with the fact that Aunt Annette was living in heaven, so we could still talk to her. Ma cried, “It’s not the same,” and wept even harder.

Ma was right. It’s not the same.

So, no platitudes from me about my faith in a happy forever home with the Lord. Just my heart weeping with the survivors. For them, it will never be the same.